REVIEW: Riverbend Reunion by Carolyn Brown

Riverbend Reunion by Carolyn Brown: Jessica, Risa, Mary Nell and Haley. Four women who were cheerleaders together in high school and still remain the best of friends even though after high school they went their separate ways.

Twenty years later they reunite back home in Riverbend, Texas. Jessica has put in her twenty years in the army and needs to figure out what to do now. Risa and her twin daughters Daisy and Lily have been kicked out of their Kentucky home by Risa’s husband prior to him divorcing her so it was back to Riverbend for them.

Mary Nell worked three jobs in Nashville to support her significant other where he was sure he become a star. When he thought he finally had a contract he kicked Mary Nell out so she went home to Riverbend. Haley is a counselor at a school in Alabama and home in Riverbend for the summer.

These four fast friends who kept in touch with each other for all those twenty years sure are a messed up bunch. Now Jess has inherited a falling down former church after the death of her uncle and the ladies and Wade Granger chat outside the old church one evening and they end up agreeing to turn the building into a bar. Whoa Nellie! That doesn’t go over well with some of the Riverbend population, especially Risa’s holier-than-thou mother. Too bad!

I love Carolyn Brown’s stories. She always manages to write characters I’d love to know and become their friend. Her stories, and especially this one, are emotionally satisfying reads that in the end make your heart happy. I’m ready to head out to Danny’s Place for the great food and drinks served there.

Book Info:

Publication: June 14th 2022 | Montlake | N/A

Back home is the best place to start over in a heart-stirring Texas romance about friendship, second chances, and small-town scandals by New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown.

Riverbend, Texas, doesn’t look like the crossroads of anywhere. But for four high school besties reuniting after twenty years, it’s a place to unpack a lot of baggage.

Risa’s headed for divorce, Mary Nell’s been kicked to the curb by her leech of a boyfriend, and Haley was just blindsided by a shocking family secret. But restless army veteran Jessica Callaway, looking to plant roots, has an idea: corral her fellow former cheerleaders and renovate an abandoned church smack-dab in the middle of three dry counties into a bar. Throw in a grill and Wade Granger—a onetime nerd turned surprisingly crush-worthy investor—and their lives are on tap for a turnaround. Amen to that.

Except for one hitch: the white-clapboard dream is causing a ruckus. With a renewed bond, hard work, and the promise of romance, Jessica and her friends aren’t backing down. For Riverbend, this is going to be a homecoming—and a scandal—to remember.